If you are a delicate flower who can start drama, but can't take it when directed back at you, this is NOT the site for you!! TURN BACK NOW!!! DO NOT ENTER!!!!! ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!! Tell your "JAG" lawyer to kiss my ass!!! Stefaniey, this means YOU!!!!

Do you feel that the SGGA fulfilled it's goals with educationfriendshiptrying to make EVERYONE feel welcomebringing the community together to work togthertrying to address individual issues and concerns

next ..Did you learn ANYTHING, and if so what???after being at the SGGA, can you describe what you think the SGGA is really about?

I learned that maybe I shouldn't be cutting my gliders' fruit into small pieces. :oops: That I may not only be not helping them, but actually taking something away from them when I do that. It's gonna be hard to change, but I'll do it.

I have to admit... I about died when this was a topic, Brenda likes to love too much I think. And its something we have discussed a few times now :)

The thing is, in the wild gliders dont get wittle bite sized pieces. Sure if they are missing a limb its lovely to do that but they can and will use their mouths to eat, not just their hands, but really they can easily, and quiet happily munch on a giant piece of fruit just as much as a cut up one. It helps hone instincts in a way and give them some of that back. Its part of the enrichment process. Hiding food, vs putting it all in one place on a tray, making them hunt down their food, is a great way to stimulate their minds.

Also a added bonus for us - less clean up, with those ity bity pieces the gliders (mine at least) tend to either throw them more often, or drop them, causing more clean up the next day if I dont put their trays in glider kitchens. The larger chunks dont fit through the bars and dont really make good throwing toys.

I really liked the idea of cutting up in different sizes. I do want to try making them hunt for their dinners, and Plan to put their fruits/veggies in chunks in random places for them to find vs letting them have at it on the tray. :) This is going to be great for my destructive pair to get them food motivated and less escape motivated!

Was probably my favorite speaking segment. -----I was thinking for an idea of change, to break it up over Saturday and Sunday, it seemed like we tried to fit SO MUCH into that one day that *I* at least missed a lot, by midday I was ready to drop, and I did so, and a lot of other people did too, I missed demos etc. If we broke it up so that Saturday and Sunday had some events on each day, 3hrs or so each vs 6hrs in one sitting, you cant really miss it! Just a thought. :)

I thought it was a success! As my first SGGA, I will say I was a little nervous walking into that room, but EVERYONE made me feel welcome! Meeting some of the people I talk to online was a wonderful experience! I also had the pleasure of meeting people I had not talk to online before as well. I feel I made some friends!

The main reason I waned to go was to learn more about gliders. My husband and I learned so much! We have tons of notes to go through! lol! I think I learned as much from the lectures as I did from talking to individual people.

On of the major things I learned (this was from Bourbon) was how to get over my fears of a biting glider! By making myself calm and using a few tricks I can now handle my Capers without fear! It's better for him and me. I have been practicing this every day since the SGGA. Each time it takes less and less time and to me this was worth the trip!

As far as what the SGGA is about, I believe that each person will have a different opinion on this. To me it is about education and community. Through knowledge and strength of community we can accomplish many things! We can grow not only as people (and friends), but as glider slaves.

usha77 wrote:Jennifer!! Trigger! Come help me! Lol. Jennifer (Trigger) spoke about making feeding time more enriching with foraging and stuff...I suck at explaining. Sorry!

OK so not everyone could make it to the SGGA but yes I spoke about the importance of allowing your gliders to exhibit their natural foraging behavior AND enrichment through the use of their food. This is very important for gliders both physically and mentally.

I did speak about hiding their treats and their dinner as well as changing up the presentaion of the normal foods we offer. Changing up their foods can be as simple as using a different size or shape when dicing your fruits and vegis.

Alicia has offered a big slice of watermelon instead of dicing up smaller chunks,instead of offering frozen corn kernals toss in a half mini ear and let them pull the kernals off. Instead of handing them a pine nut replace it with a cracked shell-on pecan so they have to work to get that nut.

Allow them to hunt down their food which is much closer to natural even in a caged environment.Hide those treats in tooth boxes or plastic easter eggs, toss their mealies in a cube filled with fleece scraps or in a ball pit full of balls.Throw those bugs, mealies, june bugs, crickets, and moths(whatever bugs you feed) in the tent during tent time and let the gliders hunt them down and catch their treats.

Making a forager is both simple and inexpensive, take a plastic shot glass drill a hole in the side and tie it to your fleece vine.Wiffle balls, baseball sized are great for putting apple, carrot and other fruit and vegi sticks in, also great to stick sugar snap peas in.Mini wiffles with a mini marshmallow inside is a great way to amuse your monkey.Make a kabob, fleece strip and a hole thru fruits and vegis to string them, hang it from the cage top and voila. Baby tommatoes and grapes come on a vine,tie it with a fleece strip to the top of the cage and watch the kiddos have a blast.You can string your cherios (or for me toddler yogurt and fruit rings) with a strip of fleece and hang or put them on a c-clip and place around the cage.Milk rings and live edible flowers make an awesome edible lei for gliders, you can also use your leafy greens in place of flowers.Grapevines and grapevine wreaths are great to stuff yogies or pine nuts in for foraging fun.Straws and safe branches with some hole drilled are great for filling with acacia gum, peanut butter, yogurt whatever licky treats you like to offer.Munchkin makes a wonderful dishwasher basket for baby items but it is also super for putting diced fruits and vegis in so the monkeys have to dig and pull the food out.

Different placement of dinner, some ideas are already listed above but I change up the dishes, some days a plate, some days a bird feeder dish and place them in different areas every night, last night the bird dishes were hidden IN their fisher price floor toys, sometimes just in a different dish door than the night before.

Hope that gives some of you a better idea and mods if you think this needs to be moved please do so.

Jenn love the idea's you just gave us for making the gliders work a bit harder to get the food/treats. Can you possibly take some photo's of they ways you give them. Sometime a visual will encourage more people to try these things.

I recently was in Whole Foods and they have a package of edible flowers in the produce section I will look the next time I go and and read what kind of flowers is in the box.

Right now my Rose of Sharon bush is in bloom I know they can have the flowers but can I cut off a branch and give them the entire thing so they can eat flowers/leave and strip the bark??

yes to all the first questions.sgga is about education and friends old and new.i always leave with something new.i also feel bourbon needs to speak next year on her bonding and her pouch protective bags